The Greatest Mother's Day Gift of All
by XV-Dragon
Summary: After a fight with her Mother, Will runs away. Shorty after words she is capured by Phobos and is used to supply him with limitless power. When she is finally rescused, it from the one person she least expected! OneShot.


AN: Here is a one shot that I have been working on. I had originally planned on putting up on Mother's Day, but the inspiration hit me to late. Hope you guys like it.

I would also like to say thanks to Knight for betaing this fic

Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H.

---

The Greatest Mother's Day Present of All

Will half stood, half hung, in Phobos' dungeons, her clothes in shreds and her body was covered in cut and bruises. It had been three days since she ended up in here and had given up all hope of being rescued.

"Why would they bother? Even if they did somehow find out about me being captured, they would probably think I got what I deserved for running away," Will whispered weakly, being very exhausted after all of the torture she had gone through over the last few days.

Will's thoughts were once again brought back to that day, when she ran away because she got so angry with her mother.

---

Three days ago:

It was 8:30 P.M., as Will made her way home carrying a large package, wrapped in brown paper. Normally Will was not even allowed out this late, but the red head had to risk it so to keep this package secret from her mother.

The reason for this was because it was a Mother's Day present Will had been saving up for months to get. It was a set of china her mom had been eyeing since they moved to Heatherfield, but it cost too much for the older Vandom to afford since they were on a very tight budget at the moment.

But for Will, who had a bit saved up before moving from Fadden Hills and managed to save up as much of her allowance as possible, had no such restrictions. She had double-checked her savings and made sure she had enough to both pay for bus fare and the china.

When she confirmed she had enough, she knew tonight would be the best chance she would get, since there was a two-hour PTA meeting at seven o'clock, giving Will two hours to get to the mall and back before her mother got home.

The only thing Will regretted about this was the fact she couldn't afford proper wrapping paper or even a card, since she had used up all her money getting the dishes. Of course Will knew it would be easy to whip up a hand-made card that would be just good as a store-bought one, so she was mostly upset about relying on the ugly brown stuff that covered it at the moment.

Will entered the apartment building where she and her mother lived; Will hoped she could maybe get some better wrapping paper before Mother's Day next week. 'Hopefully one of the girls had some they could spare for use,' Will thought as she struggled to get her keys out while holding the package of fine china.

As Will opened the door she noticed the lights were on and could hear the TV. Will assumed she must have forgotten to turn them off and made her way to her room to hide her mother's gift. Too bad for Will she was wrong about why every thing had been on when she entered the apartment.

"Where have you been? And what is that!" Will heard her mother's voice demand, almost making Will drop her precious cargo in surprise. Will turned her head to see her mother staring at her and was looking very mad.

"M-Mom what are doing home?" Will asked in complete shock and horror. Her mother was home a whole half an hour earlier than she was supposed to be!

"The PTA meeting was shorter then expected. Now enough stalling, where have you been and what is in the box?" The older Vandom demanded with her hands on her hips, clearly expecting an answer.

"I-I can't t-tell you mom, please just trust..." Will started to stammer out in a panic, but was cut off by her mother. "Trust! You go running around this late at night, without even telling me you were going to be out and you won't tell me where you've been! Why should I trust you? Especially when this not the first time you've gone out without my permission!" Susan practically screamed at Will and moved to grab the box from her daughter.

"Give that here!" Susan demanded as she tried to pull the box from Will's gasp, but the red head refused. "Mom please stop!" Will begged as her eyes filled with tears because of her mother's words.

But Susan ignored her daughter's pleas and with one final tug, tried to pull the box out of Will's grasp. Unfortunately, Will's grip was too strong and in the end, both let the package slip from their grasp and it dropped to the floor.

As the box made contact with the ground, the all too familiar sound of breaking glass could be heard. "No!" Will sobbed, as she fell to her knees and started to cry. Susan on the other was in a state of shock and confusion, what could her daughter have wanted that was made of glass and why would she want to keep it a secret?

"Sweetie…what was in the box?" Susan asked in a quiet voice, just barely loud enough for her daughter to hear. The response the older Vandom got sent a chill down her spine, as her daughter looked at her with such anger it was completely unexpected.

"If you had waited just one week…" Will started saying through her sobs, then screamed out, "You would have found out it was your Mother's Day present!" With that, Will jumped to her feet and ran out of the apartment leaving her now horrified mother behind.

---

As Will left the apartment building, she ran as far as her legs could carry her. She did not pay attention to where she was going and before Will knew it she was at Shell Beach Cove. This was one of the Guardians' favourite training spots and reminded Will of the reason why she and her mother fought so much.

"It's because I became a Guardian this all happened. Because I spend all my time fighting Phobos, mom thinks I'm slacking off with schoolwork and just being a burden to her. I bet she would be happier without me around," Will said, with tears filling her eyes.

Will knew times had been tough since her parents divorced, which was why they had money troubles and all the fights they had been having was not helping their mother-daughter relationship. Every so often, Will had thought that if she was not around her mother would be happier.

Up until now Will did not give these thoughts much attention, because she and her mother had such a strong mother-daughter bond that made Will easily shrug off these ideas as nonsense. But tonight's little fiasco made Will think maybe those thoughts were correct.

"If mom does not even trust me, how can she still love me? It's my own fault for messing up so much, so maybe I should just leave and she will finally be happy again…" Will whispered through her tears, while taking out the Heart of Candracar.

"But before I go, I need to return this to Yan Lin. Then I can just leave town and maybe I'll get lucky and find a place where a worthless nothing like me can fit in. If that does not work I could always just end it all," Will said to herself, then started her long walk towards the Silver Dragon.

Will had only made it half way, when she heard a familiar slithering sound coming up from behind her. Will started to run but it was too late. A large, strong and claw-like hand grabbed her by the back of her jacket and listed her off the ground.

"Leaving so soon, Guardian? I think not. Not when you have something my prince wants." Cedric's voice hissed into Will's ear. Knowing the snake creature meant the Heart, Will made a desperate attempt to keep it from Cedric and his master's clutches.

Slipping out of her jacket and landing back on the ground, Will tried to outrun Cedric a second time. "If you think I'll let Phobos get his hands on the Heart, you got another thing coming you overgrown suitcase!" Will yelled out as she ran.

Cedric, furious by both Will's escape and insult, threw the jacket aside and took off after her and was quickly closing the gap. Normally Will would have transformed herself by now, but that was back before she had decided to run away from it all. Now Will did not see herself as worthy of the Heart's protection.

Will knew she had to keep the Heart out of the hands of Phobos and there was only one way she could do that right now. 'Heart of Candracar, please send yourself somewhere safe!' Will commanded in her mind, then ripped the Heart from her neck and threw it with all her might.

Cedric was just about to grab Will when she threw the Heart. The snake like creature watched angrily as the necklace suddenly glowed with pink light and took off like a shooting star. Cedric grabbed Will by the collar and roared, "What have you done?!"

"Kept the Heart out of your master's grasp, that's what I have done. Now you mind doing me a favor and taking a breath mint if you're going to hold me this close to your face!" Will said with a defiant tone of voice. She was going to die so why not go out with a bang?

Cedric snarled at the read head as he said, "If it was not for the fact that my prince wishes to make you suffer by his own hands I would crush you right here and now!" These filled Will with dread. Cedric was going to take her back to Meridian, probably to be tortured, by Phobos himself.

Cedric noticed Will's fear and a sadistic smirk grew on his face. 'That's right Guardian, you have an audience with the prince and this time it won't be so pleasant!" The snake man said with an even cackle, as he carried a very frightened and struggling Will towards a nearby portal.

End of Flash Back

---

Phobos had been furious that the Heart had been lost, but he had said having a Guardian as a source of limitless life energy would do for now. Will did not know what the evil prince meant by that until after several torture sessions.

Will found out that because she had actual magic in her body, her life force was spared from the princes' energy siphoning ability, but it also meant he could use her to increase his reserves of mystic energy even more quickly than ever before.

Will tried to console herself on the idea that now Phobos would not be stealing energy from the people of Meridian, but it did not help much. Not when Phobos was growing stronger off her and would come regularly to drain her power, then 'give it back' in the form of energy blasts meant to cause only pain and not damage.

When Phobos was not torturing her, either Frost, Cedric, or a few random guards would come in with whips and would strike at her; sometimes they would even skip the whip and go right to slapping, punching and kicking. It was those tortures that had done the most damage to her. Her blue jeans and black t-shirt were so badly torn and were on the verge of falling apart soon if this kept up.

"I can't take much more of this." Will whimpered to herself in pain from her most recent beating. She was so tired, cold, hungry and in so much pain, she was starting to hope she would be killed by accident in the next torture session. As Will had those thoughts, she heard a distant rumbling sound. It sounded almost like...thunder?

'How can I hear thunder all the way down here?' Will thought tiredly, thinking she had become delusional do to her state of mental and physical exhaustion. But then she noticed other sounds off in the distance like explosions and howling winds, as well as the yelling of guards.

Will then realized she was not hearing the sounds of a storm, but of a battle! Her friends were here to save her! 'No wait...they are here to take away Phobos' new battier, not save a runaway quitter like me, that's all. Either that, or now I'm having delusions of being rescued again,' Will mentally told herself, trying to not to give herself more false hope.

A few minutes later Will noticed the noise was getting louder and closer. Will's hope began to rise despite what she told herself. Will heard the familiar sound of her friends calling out their element's name as they unleashed their powers on the enemies in there way.

But then Will heard words she did not recognized. She could barely make it out, all she knew was that it started with a Q and every time she heard it, that sound of thunder happened again. 'Is there a...sixth Guardian Yan Lin never told us about? Because I'm certain that none of the other girls have any power over thunder or lighting.' Will wondered as she saw guards and Lurdens rush past as she looked up at the cell door at the top of a set of stone steps. It was the only way in or out of her prison, which was surprisingly big, but since it seemed to double as a torture chamber maybe it shouldn't be that unexpected.

The battle was really close to Will's 'room' now, because she could clearly see fireballs, blasts of water, gusts of wind and flying bricks fly past the cell door, as well as few enemies running away from said attack.

"Do not retreat you fool! Fight the Guardians or face my...AAAHHH!" Will heard Cedric yell but sounded like whoever the person was, just zapped with whatever his or her power was. Whoever it was must have been pretty strong because Will heard the sweet familiar sound of a rather large body collapsing to the ground. Not even all of W.I.T.C.H. combined could take down Cedric in his snake form in one-shot, so it was pretty impressive that this new person could do it on his or her own.

Will almost burst out laughing at the mental image she conjured up of an electrocuted Cedric, but it made her hurt too much to laugh, so it changed the chucking of amusement into a hiss of pain. Hay Lin's keen ears must have picked the noise because Will heard the Air guardian cry out "She's in that one!"

"It's locked; better show it your universal key, Corny." Will Heard Irma's voice saying. The only times when Irma Liar had to force a sarcastic tone was either she very scared or angry and Will had a good feeling which it was. Will knew it was because Irma and the others were furious with her for running away, then getting kidnapped and letting herself be turned into a power hungry tyrant's personal Energizer Bunny.

Will then heard the steel door get torn off its hinges and tossed aside like a page being torn out of a book by the blond Earth Guardian's powers, making a loud crash as it hit the floor. That was the sign of a very angry Cornelia and started to make Will very scared of what her friends were going to do to her once they got to her.

Mere seconds after the door had been removed as an obstacle, Will saw the Guardians and Caleb burst into the room, the girls flew towards her with Caleb close behind as he ran down the stairs to the prison floor.

"Will!" The red head heard the girls cry out, Hay Lin being the first to reach her and wrap her arms around Will, unknowingly putting pressure on many of tortured girl's wounds. "Aaaaahhhh!" Will screamed in pain because of the accidental gesture, making Hay Lin quickly release Will.

"I'm so sorry Will!" Hay Lin apologized as tears began to swell in the Asian girl's eyes. She had gotten overexcited that her friend was alive; she did not take time to consider her actions might not be the best thing to do to a person who had been tortured for three days.

Will did hear Hay Lin's words though, she was so dead set on the idea her friends hated her she was begging then not to hurt her and that she was sorry. This greatly shocked and confused Caleb and the Guardians since could not understand why she was saying it to begin with.

Before any could ask Will to explain, a voice panicked and a concerned Will recognized it. "I heard Will scream. Is she all right?"

Will slowly looked up to see the one person she would never expect to see ever again. Her mother! And in a Guardian uniform that looked exactly like her own no less!

"Why...why are you here?" Will barely managed to ask through her shock. Why was her mother in Guardian form and more importantly why would the older want to rescue a worthless girl like her? All Will ever did was disappoint and anger the older woman, so why did her mother look and sound so concerned about her right now?

---

Susan wanted to cry when she heard Will ask that question. Susan had been expecting daughter to be shocked of course, but the way her little girl said it sounded like...she was more surprised by the action then any thing else.

'Have we fought so much that Will thinks I don't love her any more? The last one must have been the final straw.' Susan thought to herself with a great deal of fear and worry, as she thought back to just after her daughter had run away.

---

Flash Back:

Susan had dropped to her knees and started to cry after her daughter ran out of their apartment. A part of Susan was screaming at her to get up and go after Will, while the other told her to give her daughter time to herself. Susan knew either way she had made a huge mistake this time and that her daughter may never forgive her for it.

After fifteen minutes of crying and mentally scolding herself, Susan looked towards the parcel she had destroyed and pulled the package closer to her. Susan had to know the full extent of the damage she had caused and hoped she could repair it to some extent.

'At the very least I can find out how much I have to pay Will back. I know it will not make up for what I have done but if I'm lucky, it will help,' Susan mentally told herself as she removed ugly brown paper that was covering her former Mother's Day gift.

What Susan found shocked her; it was the china set she had wanted to buy for months but never had the money to spare! How did her little girl ever get enough to buy this? This had to have taken Will forever to save up enough to buy!

Susan knew she had to find Will and apologize, so the older Vandom climbed to her feet and headed for the door. Susan could only hope Will had not gone far.

---

An hour later though, Susan had not even caught a glimpse of her daughter anywhere. Susan had even stopped to use a payphone to contact all of Will's closest friends, hoping she had ran to one of their homes to vent, but no such luck.

'Will sweetie, where in the world are you are you?' Susan mentally asked, as she wondered the streets of Heatherfield, hoping to run into her daughter. Susan was about to give up and go home, when she saw a strange shooting star in the night sky.

What made this rather common event strange were three simple things: the first was that to Susan's knowledge, shooting stars were never pink. Two, they moved in a straight line, not do a U-turn and head back the other way. And three, they were supposed to burn up in the atmosphere, not come flying at her!

Susan ducked just in time to avoid the flying pink projectile that went flying into the alley behind her. A mere second later, there was a long crash that sounded like two cars colliding. Susan looked to see that the strange pink object had hit the side of a dumpster. The impact had made a dent in the side of the large steel garbage container…the size of a basketball.

'That almost hit me!' Susan screamed in her mind as she stared at the glowing pink object that looked somewhat familiar for some reason. Susan was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a voice say, "Who's out here!"

Susan focused on the person who was coming out a side door that led into the alley and realized it was Mrs. Lin, making Susan realize she was right next to the Silver Dragon. The old woman caught sight of Susan and asked, "Oh Ms. Vandom, did you see what made that noise? More importantly, have you heard from Will?"

Susan had to admit she was touched by the older woman's concern for her daughter. Before Susan could answer the pink light came back and was more intense this time. Yan Lin looked over to see the Heart was hovering in front of the small crater that it made in the dumpster.

"The Heart?" Yan Lin asked in shock, making Susan stare at the old woman. "You know what that thing…oof!" Susan started to ask, but the pink object, now known as the Heart, had shot back towards and hit her in the stomach.

The last thing Susan remembered was seeing a look of horror on Yan Lin's face, just before a buzzing feeling came over her and was followed by a flash of light. Then everything went black.

---

The next morning, Susan woke up on a couch in a living room she did not recognize and was feeling rather numb. "Wh-Where am I?" Susan mumbled as she tried to sit up, but her body seemed to be having trouble responding.

"You're awake!" Susan heard a hyperactive voice yelled behind her. This startled Susan and would have made her jump under normal circumstances, but since that was not case all that was a loud yelp.

Hay Lin's head then peek over the over the edge of the couch and gave the woman and apologetic smile. "Sorry about that," Hay Lin said softly to Susan who was calming down now she knew who had been speaking.

That was when Yan Lin came into the room and said, "Hay Lin you really need to stop doing that. Not every one is used to your energy my dear." The old then moved over to the side of the couch and asked, "How are you feeling, Mrs. Vandom?"

"Very numb, its like I'm paralyzed yet I can tell my body trying to respond but can't. I'm not sure how to explain it really. What happened anyway?" Susan answered as she once again tried sit up, but her body still refused to move.

Yan Lin gave woman a kind and reassuring smile as she responded, "Well first of all, your condition is temporary. After a few hours your body will be back to normal. As for what happened…" The old woman paused as if considering what to say next before continuing.

"Well lets just say its related to your daughter's strange behaviour. I can't say much more until the other girls arrive and we can go meet someone who wishes to be the one to explain everything." This peeked Susan's interest, since the woman had been trying to figure that out for months now. All Susan had to do now was wait, it was not like she could do much else considering her current state, which she had been glad to hear was not a permanent situation.

Three hours later, around noon, Cornelia, Irma and Taranee had arrived. Susan was finally able to move, though she was feeling pretty stiff but it was a drastic improvement to not being able to move at all.

"Um…Mrs. Vandom? After you called me, my Dad grilled me for info about what the call was and well…" Irma started to say, bit a nod of understanding from Susan made finishing sentence unnecessary.

"I thought he might since he had been the one to answer the phone. Did…he or any one else find her or at least get clue to where she might have gone?" Susan asked her eyes pleading the girl to giver her some good news.

Irma just looked away sadly, before taking off her backpack and started to pull something out of it. "My Dad found this in an alley." Irma said as she pulled out a pink jacket, the very one Will always wore.

Susan took the jacket and clutched it tight to her chest. As tears started to form in her eyes Yan Lin placed her hand on Susan's should and said, "Don't worry I'm sure we will find her soon. That why I called the girls here after all, if any one can help your daughter right now it's them. But first we need a few answers."

With that Yan Lin took out a familiar pink object out of her robe pocket. Susan instantly remembered it was the thing that hit her last night. But now that she saw it up close she also realized it was that strange necklace her daughter always carried with her.

Susan watched as the old woman hold up the necklace and started glow again. Susan instinctively shielded her stomach as she backed away, the memory of last night still fresh in her mind. The girls had been told of what happened so they understood the action, but still found it a little amusing. After all they never heard of the Heart 'punching' someone before.

A few seconds later, a strange purple portal opened greatly shocking and confusing the girls and Susan. The reason the remaining members of W.I.T.C.H. taken by surprise, was because the Heart had never been able to open a portal before, especially not a purple one. Susan was shocked because she had no clue of what was going on.

"Lets go," Yan Lin instructed and walked through the portal. Susan just stared in shock and did not realize Taranee and Hay Lin had taken Susan by her hands, while Irma and Cornelia pushed her from behind and lead her through the portal.

---

On the other side of the portal the group found themselves in a strange temple like room, where five glowing spheres that floated atop a table like pedestal. A cat-like woman was in the room and was glaring at them.

"My apologies, Luba. I was aiming for the council chamber, but it appears my aim was off," Yan Lin said with a small bow of respect. Before the annoyed looking woman could say anything though, a new voice spoke out, "Your aim was accurate, Yan Lin, but I redirected the portal to appear here because time is of the essence."

Every one in the chamber turned to see a young bald-headed man, with a tattoo on each side and wearing green robes enter the room. At the bald man's side, was shorter man with a long white beard that made him look like a dwarf who was also wore a green robe like his companion did.

"Oracle, it good to see you again after all this time, it is unfortunate that it is not under the best of circumstances though." Yan Lin said in a respectful tone, as she gave another bow but this time it was directed towards the bald man, now known at the Oracle.

"This is sadly true Yan Lin. It is good you brought the Keeper's mother here instead of trying to come up with a convincing cover story to explain last night's little…event. She is desperately needed if we are to saver her daughter from Phobos." The Oracle responded.

This statement caused Susan to panic and yell out "Save her from who?! Where is he!? What is he doing to her!? I swear if he has harmed even one hair on her head I'll kill him!"

Oracle held his hand up signal the woman calm down so he could speak, "Please calm down, Mrs. Vandom - all will be explained. Since we need to prepare you to help you daughter as quickly as possible, I'll implant the basic knowledge into your mind. It will be faster then explaining every thing from the beginning."

Susan looked at the Oracle as if she thought the man was insane. "Implant the knowledge into my mind? And do you plan to do th…ah!" Susan started ask, but then started to have the worst head ach she had in her life, making her fall to her knees in pain.

Suddenly images started flashing through mind and information started popping into her head that had not been there before. The images of some of the Guardians past battles, other were of them planning missions against this Phobos person. By time it was over Susan had a very vague idea what her daughter had been up to for the last few months.

'All those times I said she never being responsible and grounding her for it. No wonder why she thought I was being unfair. In a way I have been, especially when I have not been the most responsible person in the world either," Susan mentally told herself, as she recalled all the time she had told Will she had no interest dating, yet was seeing Dean Collins behind her daughter back.

Plus there where all those times she had cancelled plan with Will to go on these dates under the guise of that she was busy with work. And Dean had been her unofficial spy when it came to finding out her daughter's grades long before Will. That had obviously caused some unnecessary fights.

'How can I expect Will to have her grades at a decent level when she been literally saving a world…not that I'm thrilled at the idea of her being a superhero.' Susan thought in her mind, while everyone waited for the woman to recover from the implanting.

"Is Mrs. Vandom alright? She does not look like she is in pain anymore but she looks rather distant." Taranee asked the Oracle. The Oracle looked at the Fire guardian with a reassuring smile and answered, "Yes she is just having bit of a revelation at the moment. You will have to fill her in on some of the details, because rush of information tends to be too much for most to handle. But she is now aware of your secret and knows it's a great responsibility that you have not taken lightly."

The girls were not sure how to take this news. They had been doing a good job of keeping their secret under wraps all this time, and now the most over protective parent of the whole group knew it. But at the same time they could argue that if that if Mrs. Vandom took the news well, then it would mean thing might be easier for Will…if they could saver her from Phobos that is.

"So…who exactly are you? I know you called Oracle but what do you have do with us exactly?" Irma asked, her curiosity finally getting the best of her. The others were wondering this as well, though they had been too focused on Mrs. Vandom to ask.

The Oracle shoo his head sadly as he answered, "I'm afraid it is to early for you know that information. Once you have defeated Phobos I'll be able tell you but for now please be patent." The Guardians were not thrilled with this little piece of information but accepted it for the moment.

Susan finally stood and looked towards the Oracle. "Okay, every thing was so mixed I could not get much of it, but do know they have powers over the elements…while my daughter has nothing." The last part made the Oracle flinch at the accusation but did not say anything while Susan continued.

"They have been fighting this Phobos person, whose is a tyrant that rules over a world called…Meridian I believe and is the one who has taken my daughter…so what do I have to do? You said you needed me to help save her but as I see it, they are the only ones who can do any thing that would help." Susan asked, her voice filled with fear for her daughter's safety since she was in the hand of a mad man.

The Oracle knew it was time to explain and did so. "That is true in most cases, Mrs. Vandom, but the Heart of Candracar has decided you must help recue your daughter. That means it will most likely lend you the power needed to help her. Though you probably found the first part of the infusion of power less the pleasant, seeing how the Heart hit and electrocuted you in the process."

This made Susan face go pale as she stuttered out, "E-E-Electrocuted me! When did it do that and why? Couldn't it have been done with out resorting to that?!" This had Yan Lin looking at the older Vandom and say, "What, you thought you passed out just because it hit you in the gut?"

Before Susan could respond to Yan Lin's comment, the Oracle spoke up, "To answer why the Heart attacked you was because it was...angry with you. When something hurts or upsets the Keeper, the Heart tends to mimic those feelings. So when the Heart gave you your first infusion it also decided to...vent that anger."

Susan did not like the sound of this. Had she really hurt Will that much? If so Susan knew she had a lot of work ahead of her, if she was going fix things between her and Will. "Alright I think I understand...but what do you mean by first infusion?' Susan asked, wondering how many she would need and if they would be as bad as the first.

"Phobos is using your daughter for a source of mystic energy. If you were given all the power the first time there would have been nothing to shield her life force from his draining. So the Heart just created the actual connection your daughter power and left it my self to complete the process, while at the same time connect your daughter to a new source of power so her life force will be spared." The Oracle explained.

Susan and I.T.C.H. looked horrified at being told this. They knew they needed to save Will fast before Phobos became too powerful. "Then lets get started! I will not let that...that thing use my baby as battery!" Susan practically screamed.

The Oracle nodded his head in understanding and gestured to a spot on the floor. "Please sit down then. This might take some time so please take the Guardians home Yan Lin. I'll send Mrs. Vandom to you once we are done." The Oracle instructed while Susan sat down on the floor. The former Guardian nodded her head and handed the Heart to Susan before ushering the girls back to the portal, which closed the second they were through.

The Oracle then instructed Susan to close her eyes and clear her mind so to brace herself for what was to come, while the Oracle started to the transfer of power. Will's Auramere then started to send out waves of energy to envelop Susan in pink light. The Oracle glowed with white light and had chosen his power to act as the substitute energy source for Will, until she was rescued.

As the powers started to switch, the council (with the exception of the Oracle) did not know a certain nymph had drown Susan's spirit into the Heart so to...speak with her.

---

Susan now found herself in large meadow and was face to face with the princess of Yan Lin's story. Of course Susan did not know that, all she was is a Chinese woman who was dressed like someone who was of high standing.

"Uh...hello?" Susan said hesitantly, being very confused at what was happening. The only was response Susan got though, was a cold stare and a lighting bolt to the chest. Susan was sent flying into the trunk of a tree and as she looked up to see woman was now just an inch away from her face.

"You'll need to be quicker than that if you are to save Wilhelmina," Xin Jing said coldly as she grabbed Susan's shirt and pulled her rather roughly to her feet. Once standing again, Susan knocked the hand away from her and glared back.

"Who are you and how do you know my daughter?!" Susan demanded, thinking this maybe one of Phobos' minions. The nymph just blasted Susan again as she said, "Train now, questions later. Assuming I deem you worthy of the information." And so a rather ugly and painful relationship was born.

Xin Jing had put Susan through the Quintessence training from hell for what appeared to be weeks to Susan, but had only been a few days in the real world. Over the course of Susan's training, she learned the story of Xin Jing and the four dragons and that the nymph really, really did not like parents, (was still very mad at her father the emperor) especially those who made a Keeper's life difficult.

By the end of the training, Susan and Xin Jing still despised one another, but tolerated each other because Will's life was on the line. Fortunately Susan also learned much from the training, she had learned how to use her daughter's untapped powers, which would make the rescue much easier. Susan even learned a little trick several generations of Keeper's never learned to do, to use pure energy instead of lighting for attacks and defensive barriers.

"You better succeed in saving my Keeper, woman. If you fail I'll make sure you end up here instead of going to the after life and you really don't want that." Xin Jing said as Susan prepared to leave.

"I plan on it, besides the last thing I want is to be stuck with _you_ for eternity!" Susan shot back before she disappeared, heading back to reality.

---

Susan opened her eyes to see she was back in the Auramere chamber. The only one present was Luba who glanced with and said, "The Oracle told us you were with Xin Jing. I assume you are prepared for the mission?" Susan nodded her head and held up the Heart to open portal back to the Silver Dragon.

"Before you go I would like to inform you that Yan Lin and the Guardians took care of any problems your absence would have caused. You employer seemed to be quite under standing and said for you to take your time, he did not expecting you working with your daughter missing." Luba added.

Susan turned to the cat woman and asked in a worried tone, "Exactly how long have I been gone? I know it was week in the vision but how many days has it been here?"

Luba looked reluctant to answer but finally said, "Three days, you must hurry and save the Keeper quickly. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why." Susan paled at the new and quickly opened the portal back to Earth. She knew Will was a strong girl, but three days of who knows what torture was to much to ask anyone to bare.

'I'm coming sweetie and I hope I'm not to late' Susan thought to herself and dove through the portal to go gather the girls.

End of flash back

---

After Susan had gotten the girls and officially met Caleb (as the rebel leader, not the Silver Dragon's cheap labour) they had headed for Meridian. Now Susan was face to face with her daughter once more, the older woman could see the result of her lack of trust in Will had caused.

"Will…I'm so sorry sweetie, let's get you out of here and get you to a hospital." Susan said as she raised her hand to point at the chains holding her daughter. "Quintessence!" Susan said and filled the chains with life energy and had them release her daughter.

"H-How did you…" Will asked weakly in confusion at what was happening. Susan said nothing as she moved to hug her daughter but was stopped by Hay Lin. "That's not a good idea Mrs. Vandom because…" Hay Lin as she held out her arms to show the blood that was on them from when she hugged Will.

Susan's face paled at the sight, but it quickly turned anger as she growled out, "I'll kill Phobos when I get my hands on him!" The other Guardians and Caleb could not help but agree, but they knew the line to get a piece of the dark princess started with Susan because no one can argue with a mother's right to revenge.

"And how do you plan on doing that may I ask?" an all too familiar and smug voice called out behind the group. They all turned to see Phobos standing at the top of the stairs that lead down to the dungeon floor, blocking the only exit out of the dark place.

"Prince Phobos, just the bastard I wanted to see," Susan said in a deadly tone of voice as she took out the Heart. The small pink crystal then floated out of her hand and hovered of the Will and her friends, before it created a dome of pink energy to protect them.

"Look after Will, while I deal with him. I won't be long." Susan said as she started to head for the stairs, sparks of electricity radiating from her body. Will had to stair in awe at her mother's confidants and shock at she was willing to fight Phobos alone.

The shock quickly turning fear though, as the knowledge of Phobos being much stronger than ever before, came back to her. Thanks to the energy he had been draining from her, Phobos was probably too strong for all five Guardians combined; her mother did not have a chance!

"We…have to…stop…her…Phobos too…strong" Will said as she tried to get up but was pushed back down by Caleb and Irma. "Don't worry babe, your mom's got some serious fire power at her beck and call. I bet she has not even gotten warmed up yet." Irma said with a confidant grin on her face.

"Irma's right, Will, I know when people are holding back and believe me, you mother has been holding back ever since we started the mission, yet is still unleashing stronger attacks than the others. I think Phobos is going to have his hands full no matter how much power he has leeched off of you" Caleb added, as he eagerly awaited to see what happened between Susan and Phobos.

---

Phobos watched this strange woman walking up the stairs towards him. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage woman, you seem to know me yet I know nothing of who you are." Phobos said in a casual tone, like Susan was nothing to be concerned about. Boy was he in for a surprise.

Susan continued to stare at Phobos coldly as she responded, "All you need to know is that I'm…your worse nightmare! Quintessence!" With that furious statement a blast of lighting was fired at Phobos.

The evil prince dodged it by taking to the air; since he now possessed overflowing reserves of power he could achieve the feat with ease. He then unleashed a blast of white-hot energy at Susan in response to her attack, but Susan just created a barrier of lighting to block the beam.

'I'll keep my best trick for later, normal Quintessence powers should do for now.' Susan thought, as she planned out how she could make Phobos use up some that stolen power he got from her daughter.

Susan then took to the air herself and fired another bolt of lighting at Phobos, who simply blocked it with an energy shield of his own.

---

Meanwhile Will and the other watched in awe as Susan and Phobos trades blows and used barriers to block the others attacks as the flew around the dungeon. Every so often one would suddenly telatransport and attack the other from an odd angle, hoping to catch the other off guard. But the other would just telatransport out of the way and fire back.

"Is that…really my mom?" Will asked, feeling a little stronger now that she had been given some water, thanks of Irma who used her powers to provide the semi-dehydrated girl with the refreshing liquid.

Even the protective dome had helped give back some of Will's strength, as the Heart's warm light rained down on her. Will was still very weak but was feeling a lot better then she had been in days.

Caleb had brought a rebel medical kit along so Taranee and Cornelia were providing some basic treatment to Will's injuries, though the progress was slow because they had been watching the fight at the same time.

"Told you she had been holding back and still is I think. The thing that worries me is that I think Phobos is as well,' Caleb commented, his voice carrying a hint of worry in it. If Phobos and Susan were this strong and still not going all out, just how powerful were they?

The girls were bit unnerved by what Caleb had said, but it was hard to see a clear winner yet. So all they could do now was wait and hope Susan cam out on top. 'Please mom, be careful' Will though, feeling worried for her mother's safety.

Will did not realize it but watching the fight was bringing back some of Will's faith that her mother did love her. The older Vandom was still going to have to work a bit to restore their relationship, but Susan was off to a good start.

---

Susan and Phobos where still going at after ten minutes of firing energy blasts or bolts of lighting at each other, but neither could land a hit because the other would either block or dodge the other's attacks.

Of course this was more a problem for Phobos than Susan though, since Susan was hooked up to an Auramere to provide her with power, while Phobos leeched off the life force of others. Meaning the prince lacked Susan's stamina and in a battle of two equally matched mystical opponents, the one with greater stamina usually won.

'This woman is the most troublesome creature I have ever had to deal with, besides my mother of course. I need to distract her long enough to get a shot in, then drain her powers. Then nothing will stop me!' Phobos plotted in his mind, as through up a barrier to by himself the time he needed to come up a strategy.

Susan had been told enough times Xin Jing (while dodging said nymph's attacks) that Phobos loves to plot and if he willingly goes on the defensive, then it was time to end the battle quick or else he might come up with a way to win.

'Better use the pure energy attacks, those should punch through the barrier' Susan thought as he hands started glow with pink light. Then after giving it a few seconds to charge the blasts, fired a beam of pink energy from each had.

Phobos was to shocked by the sudden appearance of the different type of attack and did not have time increase the power to his barrier to block them. They punched through his meager defence and sent Phobos crashing to the ground.

"It's over Phobos, you lose." Susan said as she slowly flew down to wear the prince had fallen and was on his hands and knees trying to get up. Unfortunately she did not see the evil grin on Phobos' face until it was to late.

Using one of his older tricks, Phobos waited until Susan was closed to the ground and the suddenly two black vines shot up out of the ground and grabbed Susan's wrists. Phobos knew the Guardian's strength would allow his opponent to break the vines easily but not before he got his hand on Susan.

"Ah! What the?" Susan yelped as she fought the vines, not noticing Phobos was diving at her. "Your powers will now be mine!" Phobos yelled as he grabbed Susan's wrists, just as she broke free of the vines.

"Aaaahhhh!" Susan screamed out as she felt her energy being drained out her, making her grow weaker by the second. "Mom!" Will screamed as she watched Phobos get his clutches on her mother. Will knew better then anyone else how painful Phobos' energy draining methods could be.

The others were equally worried, they could do nothing to help and knew if Phobos drained all of Susan's powers then they would stand no chance against him. All they could do was watch and hope for a miracle at this point.

Mean while Phobos was cackling with delight. He had this annoying woman at his mercy and now knew why she seemed so determined to fight him. "Ah now I understand. I should have recognized you sooner. Playing the role of a hero is a family trait I see, well so be it. Now that I have you and soon the Heart as well, your daughter is free to go...to oblivion! I'll make her death and the death of her friends a quick one!" Phobos mocked as he celebrated what he thought was his moment of triumph. This was going to prove to be his greatest mistake however.

Phobos' words had Susan's blood boiling and leaned her head back. Phobos thought Susan was just bending back in pain, but she was really preparing a nasty little surprise for the arrogant prince. Susan then through her forehead forward and slammed it into Phobos' face.

"Aaahhh!" Phobos yelled as he released Susan from his grip, ending her drain on Susan's powers. "I'll make pay for that you worthless...oof!" Phobos started to threaten, but was cut when Susan punched him in the face.

"That was for threatening to kill my daughter!" Susan growled and then punched him again. "That was for threatening her friends and this one is for torturing her for three days!" Susan added and her third blow sent Phobos flying across the dungeon and slammed into the dome that protected Will and the others.

As Phobos got back up on his feet the girls and Caleb saw his face was covered in blood from his beating. It would seem that while Phobos was a titan of mystic strength, he was a complete weakling when it came to a physical confrontation, one that Susan was about to finish.

"Move out of the way, you six. I'm going to need that spot in a minute." Susan ordered as she got close, calling the Heart back to her hand, the dome to vanishing as is did. Everyone did as the oldest Vandom said and got out of the way, as Susan ran at Phobos. She punched him one last time before yelling out, "Quintessence!"

The attack had not been aimed at Phobos, but the chains that once held her daughter. Just as Phobos flew over them, the chains latched onto his wrists and ankles, holding him in place. "Now to take back what you stole." Susan said as she held up the Heart.

"No!" Phobos roared in protests but nothing was going to save his stolen energies. The Heart ripped them out of him and absorbed into it self, before transmitting them back to Candracar, where a very tired Oracle was waiting for them. Some of the energy went back to Susan of course, since she had some of her energy had stolen as well.

Once the last of the stolen energy was retrieved Susan turned to Taranee and said, "Weld his shackles shut. We don't want him getting loose any time soon, now do we?" Taranee nodded her head and set to work.

"Um...Taranee you might want to make it fast because I hear a lot of angry soldiers coming our way!" Hay Lin warned. This made Susan grumble under her breath, "I was hoping to get give him a sample of what he put Will though."

Caleb and Guardians I through H could not help but agree with this comment but knew that they needed escape now or risk capture. Susan quickly opened a purple portal and told every one to go through. Taranee had just finished her task as the solders showed up and dove through the portal as they opened fired with a volley of spears. As the portal closed behind them Susan hoped against hope that Phobos had been hit my some of the spears, but knew she was probably not that lucky.

---

Will was surprised where they had ended up through the strangely coloured portal. They were now in a temple of some sort and was clutching Caleb's jacket closer around her body to hide her current appearance from the strangers in the room. She was grateful the rebel leader had wrapped it around her before he and Irma lead her through the portal.

The Oracle gave the girl a sympathetic smile before he spoke to Susan, "The council and I thank you for your assistance, Mrs. Vandom. Once we set every thing up for your daughter cover story, we will send you all home. But first I need to ask you to return what we lent you."

Susan gave the Oracle a reluctant look as she said, "Don't you think I should keep the powers until Will has recovered a little? If Phobos tries to..." The sentence was cut off by a gesture from the Oracle, who giving her a reassuring look to calm the woman down.

"Phobos will most likely won't trying like a direct attack on her again any time soon. There are certain...rules of engagement that even he must follow or risk forces other than the Guardians, to get involved in the war for Meridian and will most likely lead to his defeat. Plus he will be afraid to face you a second time, of that I'm sure."

This had every one confused at what the Oracle meant by rules of engagement, but had feeling that was a long story, one they did not have the time or energy to listen to.

"Alright...but once Phobos finds out I no longer of any powers I'm sure he won't be very scared of me any more," Susan replied with a hesitant look on her face as he held up the Heart for the Oracle to take.

As the Oracle did so, he smiled and said, "I would not be so sure of that. You were only Guardian a short time; you still receive what is called the Eternal Gift. Thought unlike other 'retired' Guardians you won't need to drain your life force for power." Susan and the Guardians were confused at what the man was taking about, but did not get the chance to ask.

Susan was suddenly changing back to her human form and the pink energy that belonged to the Keeper was flowing out of Susan and into the Heart. At the same time though, a purple coloured energy was flowing into Susan, as if replacing the mystical powers that was being taken away.

By the time it was over, Susan was shocked that she could still feel the power inside her. She even noticed she still had the slightly firmer and stronger body she had when transformed. It was only the physical change the older woman got when she turned into the Guardian, besides the wings and uniform of course.

As Susan looked back the Oracle and was about ask what happened, he replied before the words even left her mouth. "You have been infused with some of Candracar's mystical power. As a way to…discourage any further kidnapping or revenge plans, Phobos might attempt. The only ability you don't have is the ability to transform, hence the reason you have the slightly stronger body," The Oracle explained then turned to face Will.

"Now, I think it time we got you home, young one. I'll have your mother explain your cover story to you when you wake up." He explained as waved his in front of Will's face. "What do you…mean…wake…up?" Will started to ask, but suddenly felt very sleepy and then every thing went black.

---

Will woke up to the noise of a constant Beeping noise and slowly opened her eyes. Will realized she was in a hospital and her mother was at her bedside reading a book. Will wondered if all that was just a dream, her mother becoming a Guardian and saving her from Phobos did seem a little out there. The redhead knew there was only one way to find out.

"Mom?" Will asked weakly, drawing the older woman's attention.

Susan gently stroked the side of Will's face as she said, "Glad to se you awake honey, when I the doctor said you were in a coma, I thought I would have to go see the at Oracle person again and ask what he did to you."

This made Will's eyes widen a bit as she asked in her weak tone, "It wasn't a dream? It all really happened?"

Susan nodded her head and gave her little girl a sad smile as she said, "Yes sweetie, it all happened. Just so you know you have amnesia about what caused you to get so beaten up. It was the only thing that, that Oracle person could think of to avoid people asking too many questions."

Will was about to say something when a doctor entered the room. "Mrs. Vandom, visiting your daughter again I…oh she awake!" The doctored said a little surprised. To him this girl had been full of surprises.

Healing at a slightly above average rate, her body recovering from both malnutrition and dehydration faster then he had ever heard of and now waking up after being unconscious only three days, while he had been expecting a week at the earliest.

'The girl is a living miracle.' The doctor mused, as he began examining explaining they needed to run some tests, to see if they needed to keep Will longer for observation or if she could go home.

Had the doctor know that being a Guardian gave Will a rather good health plan. The fact that she was the Keeper of the Heart also helped, since the Heart tended to give its Keeper some extra attention compared to the other Guardians.

By the time they had finished, the doctor and the nurses helping him confirmed Will could go…after the police had a quick talk with her. Will felt her stomach drop at this news. She was out frying pan (did not need to stay at the hospital) but was now in the fire (have to convince some cop she had memory loss)

Will was a bit relieved to see it was Tom Liars that was the man she had to talk to. If there was any man of the force she had a chance she could successfully lie to it was Tom. Not because the man was stupid or easily fooled, far from it. But she knew him and was friends with his daughter, which gave the redhead an advantage.

"Hi Will, glad to see you're feeling better. You had a lot of people worried when you ran off like that. The fact you were in rather rough shape did not… gulp " Tom started say, but was making Will feel very guilty, so Susan gave him 'the look'. The last time Anna gave Tom the look and he had not paid heed to its warning, he ended up on the couch for a month. So he knew to shut up before something bad happened

"Um…well…lets just move onto the questions, I'm sure you want to go home as soon as possible,' Tom said after he found his voice again. He was sweating and clearly nervous at being in the room with the older Vandom. He now planned on getting Will's statement quickly so he could leave and get away from Susan.

'And here I thought Anna was scary,' Tom thought, as he started asking his question.

---

Will felt bad for taking advantage of the now extremely unnerved Tom Liars as she made up her story. The fact that when ever Will started to feel like Tom was going to catch Will lie, her mother would put more pressure on the officer, making Tom loose focus and easy to deceive.

Will was now heading home, looking out the window of the car and watching the sunset while Susan drove. There was an uneasy silence in the car, or for Susan there was anyway. Will seemed to be more focused on trying to absorb every thing that had happened recently.

Eventually Susan broke the silence by asking, "Will…about what happened before you…left. I'm sorry about what happened. When I did not find you home I panicked. I thought that maybe you never made home from school or someone broke into the apartment and took you." Will had looked away from window, as she watched her mother rant and see tears swelling up in the older woman's eyes.

"When I heard the door open and saw you come in I just…lost it. All that worry turned to anger some how and said all those things. I should have…" Susan started to add, but Will interrupted with a quiet voice. "Mom it's okay"

This made Susan pull over to the side of the road, and then pull her daughter into a hug. "No sweetie it's not, you ended up being hurt because I made you so upset that you ran out. Now that I know about this Guardian business things are going to be different, I promise." Susan then let Will go and continue to drive the two home.

Will was both comforted and shaken by her mother's words though, "What does she mean things will change?'

---

When the two finally arrived home, Susan stopped at the door as if nervous to open it for some reason. "What's wrong mom?" Will asked looking concerned. Susan looked at Will gave her a weak smile before answering, "You might want to brace yourself Will. Things are a bit different in there now."

Will just looked at her mother said, "What? Redecorated or something?" This made Susan mumble under breath what sounded like 'I wish' and opened the door. All of sudden both Vandoms were greeted by barrage of greeting from electronic voices.

Will was looking like she was going into mental overload, as tried to figure out what was going on, while her mother lead Will inside. "I tried to warn you" Susan said as she shut the door.

When Will finally voice she asked in a frightened voice, "Why is everything that has a current running through it talking?" Susan looked a little embarrassed as she answered, "Because it one of our powers seems to do that with electronic."

"Why are you addressing yourself in the third person?" Will asked in an annoyed tone because all the voices were giving her a headache. Susan could understand Will annoyance, seeing how older woman was still getting used to this herself.

"I'm not referring to my self Will; I'm referring to both you and me. I got the extra strength version of your powers. Anything I can do you can do as well…eventually," Susan explained then looked around the room an annoyed look, giving of small bursts of electricity.

The appliances knew this was Susan way of saying 'Shut Up!' and complied instantly, get a relieved thank from Will. Susan then ordered them some take out from the Silver Dragon. The doctors had instructed Susan to make sure to make sure Will had lots to eat (preferably well balanced meals) so get her back up to a healthy weight and to make sure she drank lot of fluids as well and the older woman planned on doing making Will do so.

Once Will was fed and had a nice long bath, Susan shooed Will off to bed. Will gave a weak defence of she had been sleeping for three days, but her mother would hear nothing of it. Susan knew Will needed real rest as much as any thing else and nothing the redhead could say was going to change Susan's mind.

As Susan tucked Will under the covers, Susan took something of her pocket and placed it in Will's hand. Will opened her palm to see it was the Heart. "That Oracle person said you were on mandatory vacation until the Heart says otherwise, so no trying to transform, because it won't work if you do it any sooner then that." Susan said before kissing her daughter good night and left the room.

As the door closed, Will slowly drifted off to sleep clutching the Heart to her chest. Even though she had been told the Heart would not work, it still felt good to have it near by again. She had always felt safe when she held it at night. This time though, she felt safer then ever for some odd reason.

Unknown to Will's conscious mind, she was actually feeling safer because there was now very powerful woman nearby who would fight to the death to make sure the young girl could sleep without fear.

---

Meanwhile, Susan was checking her e-mail for important messages. There were a few work messages of from coworkers send there wishes for Will's speedy recovery and one from her boss saying thing looked clear work wise, so if Susan needed it, she still had plenty of time to care for Will.

Susan's boss always knew the importance of family, so he was a rather genres to offer paid leave when emergencies like this came up, if you were a good worker that is. Susan had no problems there, since she was quickly getting closer to a promotion, which were very to get since there were a lot equally qualified people wanting it as well.

"If I can get that promotion then our money troubles will be over, but let's worry about...this little problem first," Susan whispered as she clicked on her message from Dean.

---

_It said:_

_Sure I'll meet you in the morning, Susan. Meet me at our usual cafe at 6:30AM, that should give us enough time to talk and you should be back before Will wakes up. See you tomorrow._

_Dean_

---

Susan's stomach felt uneasy after reading this message. She needed to talk to Dean and convince him to lay off Will, without telling him Will's secret. It was Dean's idea to put more pressure on Will at school that way anyone who knew of his and Susan's relationship would not think he was going to give Will special treatment.

At the time Susan thought this was a good idea, but now that she knew Will had other responsibilities to deal with, Will needed to have less pressure at school. If Dean did not agree with Susan on this, then she did not know what to do.

Susan was just about to shut her computer down when she heard her computer say "Mrs. Susan there is another message coming in." Susan jumped a bit at hearing the computer speak, since it was one the few devices that rarely talked.

The computer was named Fred; he was a rather quiet 'person'…unless he and Wilma the printer were having what Susan called a lover's spat. The dark haired woman once made the mistake of making a Flintstones joke at their expanse, and boy did they give her an ear full for it.

"Fred you really have to stop scaring the woman like that!" Wilma the printer yelled out. Susan knew she had to nip this argument in the bud or risk them waking Will up. "Let me see the message Fred," Susan managed to say before the computer could respond to his 'wife'.

---

_The new message said:_

_Hey, Mrs. Vandom! The girls and I got that little surprise ready just in time. All you need to do now is get Will out of the apartment, so I can sneak it in. Hope it helps Will feel a little better from…well you know what._

_Hay Lin_

---

"Well at least one thing is going to happen tomorrow, better make sure to leave the spare key for Hay Lin to find" Susan whispered with a smile. She then sent the hyper active girl a response, giving small list of instructions as what time to come, were to find the key and were to leave the package.

Susan then went to bed knowing she had a very busy day ahead of her tomorrow. All lot would happen; relationships would change for better and for worse. You can't always have it both ways after all.

---

At the café, Dean was already there as Susan arrived. Susan's stomach was still doing back flips, since she knew Dean was going to at least try to convince her they should keep trying put pressure on Will to improve.

'Lets hope I reason with him in the end,' Susan mental told herself, as she sat down at the table.

Once Susan had sat down and the two ordered some coffee Dean asked, "How is Will feeling? I may not have see the damage done to her but if it is even half as bad as I heard…I hope they catch the ones who did that to her."

Susan's hopes rose at these words, thinking maybe that this would go more smoothly then she had anticipated. "Will's doing well. The doctors say a few days to a week of bed rest and she will be back in school again. I hope she does not have too much to catch up on." Susan answered, slowly building the courage to ask her question.

There coffee had just arrived when Susan finally made herself speak, "Dean I want you to stop putting pressure on Will at school. I'm pretty sure it's the last thing Will needs at this point in her life."

This made Dean look confused for a second, but smiled as he responded. "Of course I will. There was no way I was going to put that kind of pressure on her until she has had a chance to get settled back in. I'm sure after a couple of months…" Dean started to say but Susan cut him off.

"No Dean, I mean for good. It was a good idea at first but I think it's better if you treat her like your other students from now on." Susan said, shocking the man.

"S-Susan you know I can't do that. Will's grades are dropping like a stone, if I ease up they won't go back up." Dean said in protest.

It did not weaken Susan resolve however as she countered his argument, "Her grades are still dropping after using that method for a few months now, I'm pretty sure that means its not going to work!"

Dean sighed before responding again, "Susan I know you just Will back from a very unpleasant situation, but for her future's sake you can't let her get away with slacking off!"

Those words had done it and there was loud Slap heard throughout the whole café. Susan was now storming out of the café, while Dean was nursing a rather nasty red spot on his face. There is a lesson to be learned from this, never piss off a mother who was once a Guardian. Even a simple slap can feel like getting hit by a 5-ton pick up truck.

---

Susan had been in tears all the way back home. Dean calling Will a slacker when Susan knew Will was the exact opposite had angered her greatly. What made it hurt more was the fact Susan had thought the same until a week ago. 'Dean probably won't speak to me again, now that I did that, but that's all right. Will is all I need…if she will forgive me when tell her I have been dating her history teacher all this time' Susan though as she dried her tears.

Susan went into the apartment bracing herself for the barrage of welcome home comments from the appliance in the house. Susan was relieved that she got lucky and got a rare quite entry into her apartment.

Susan noticed it was now 7:45AM and knew Will would probably want to sleep in a little longer, so that gave Susan time to fully get herself under control before Will saw her. Fifteen minutes later Susan heard a scream coming from Will's room.

"Will!" Susan called as she stormed in, lighting already forming in her hand. When Susan entered she saw Will thrashing back and fourth in her sleep crying out, "Please stop! No more!" Susan instantly knew what was happening. Will was having a nightmare from when she was Phobos' prisoner!

"Will wakeup! Wake up sweetheart!" Susan said as she shook her daughter. Will's eyes snapped open and launched up into a sitting position. She was breathing heavily, as if she had been forced run a thousand mile marathon.

Susan waited for a moment before asking, "Honey, are you alright?" Will slowly looked over to her mother, then after a few seconds to register who she was, Will dove at her mother and cried into her chest, "Please don't let them hurt me!"

Susan slowly rocked her daughter back and fourth as she soothed her daughter by saying, 'Shh...It's alright sweetie, every thing alright. No one can hurt you any more, I won't let them." Susan repeated this process over and over until Will had finally calmed down.

Once Will has settled down Susan pulled away and said in a bit of a scared tone, "Will there is something I want to tell you. It's time I told you a secret I have been hiding from you." Will looked at mother in confusion. She had no idea what her mother would so scared to tell her, but it must important if it was upsetting the woman so much.

Susan could tell Will was waiting for her to speak so Susan continued, "You remember I once said I had no interest in dating a while back? Well that not really the truth. I have been dating someone...or was until this morning."

Will was completely shocked by the news; she almost got upset that her mother hid this from her until she realized something. "What do you mean by...until this morning? Did you break up for some reason?" Will asked, hoping her mother was to hurt if that had happened. Will may be uncomfortable with the idea of her mom seeing other men besides her father, but she also wanted her mother to be happy as well.

Susan smiled sadly as she thought back to what happened a short while ago, before finally answering Will's question. "I am pretty sure we did, a slap to the face tends to mean a break up, sweetie." Right after Will's face go pale, much to Susan's confusion.

Before Susan could ask what was wrong, Will shot out of bed and started to get dressed, Susan could tell Will was now in a very bad mood. "Who is he?! More importantly where is he?! I'm going to kill him for hitting you!" Will ranted as she started to strip off her PJs.

Hearing this, Susan burst out laughing; this stopped Will while she was in the middle of putting her underwear and socks on. "How can you find this funny?" Will demanded, until she it dawned on her. "Oh...you meant...you hit..." Will started say, but Susan nodded her head with a smile on her face.

After a few seconds, Will's face went hard again and said, "I'll still kill for whatever he did!" With that Will pulled on a pair of black jeans and her red long sleeve shirt. She was just grabbing the Heart and was a bout to storm out of the room, when Susan telatransported in front of the doorway.

"Will, I have already dealt with Dean. All I want you to do is give him the proper respect at school and if he is still giving you a hard time when you back next Monday tell me." Susan said in a stern tone of voice. She had been hoping to slowly admit who her former boyfriend was, but given the circumstances Susan opted for the, tell everything at once strategy.

Will froze when she heard the name Dean. Did her mother mean Dean 'the Demon' Collins, her history teacher? As Will thought back to when he started be stricter with her then the other students, she realized it was shortly after her mom joined the PTA. 'But why would mom lie about dating Mr. Collins? And why would they break up suddenly if they were?' Will thought to herself, while she tried to piece every thing together in her mind.

Susan, as if knowing her daughter's thought, spoke up. "You seemed unhappy with the idea of me dating when I first asked, so Dean and I decided to keep under out hats and see how it went first. If it went well we would tell you, if it went bad we could just break up and you would never have know about, saving you any...discomfort that you would probably have from having your mother's ex as your teacher." After giving Will a moment to digest all this, Susan continued.

"We broke up because...I asked him to lighten up on you at school. He refused and when he said you were slacking off in your studies I slapped him," Susan finished and waited for Will to start yelling. She knew Will was going to be upset about all this, so the older Vandom shut her eyes and braced herself.

The only thing that happened thought was Susan suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around and Will's voice say, "You...broke up because of me? I'm sorry mom." Susan looked down see Will starting to cry again, as she barred her face in her mother's chest.

Susan stroked Will's head light as she tried to clam Will down again. "It's alright Will; I live with out him as long as I have you. Now since we are both dressed already, why don't we go out for breakfast?" Susan asked, and got a small smile and a nodded from her daughter. Susan knew Will was going to be blaming herself for the break up for a while, but Susan knew Will would stop soon enough, once she calmed down and thought it over.

---

It had turned out to be more then a simple breakfast trip though. Susan wanted to keep Will out of the house until this evening. Will had been a little upset when she found it was Mother's Day though. She was upset she did not even have a card, let alone a gift to give her mother. Susan assured Will that it was alright, but the redhead was still upset about it. Will was so upset; she never noticed a certain smile on her mother's face, one that said she knew more then she was letting on.

By the time they got home, Will was worn out. After breakfast, then window shopping (though they did not buy anything), then went to a double feature at the movies and was wrapped up by buying some thong for dinner.

On the menu for tonight: Angel Hair pasta and with shrimp, in a white sauce, Some Caesar salad on the side and for dessert Cheesecake. Despite being warn out, will was looking to the meal for just her and her mother. 'The perfect way to warp up Mother's Day, still wish I could give her something though.' Will thought as she put her coat and shoes away.

"Oh Will I just remembered! The girls got you a couple of get well gifts. They are in my closet, why don't you go open them while I get things started out here." Susan suggested as she took out some pots and pans.

Will wondered why her mom would keep the present in her room, but paid it no mind as she ran off to go see what she got. 'Let the countdown begin, T minus...two minutes should be about right' Susan mused, as she set to work and started her mental count down of the seconds.

There were two presents wrapped in a Hay Lin original type wrapping-paper (a bunch of mini Hearts of Candracar and Portals). One was a box of some kind, while the second was flat rectangle shaped object.

There was note as well on top of them so Will picked it up and read it.

---

_Hi Will! Us girls got together and managed to get these ready in time for Mother's Day. Open the flat gift first then the box. Hope you and your mom love them!_

_Signed: I.T.C.H._

---

Will, growing curious, did as the note instructed and opened the rectangle shaped package. She unwrapped it to find a painting...of both Will and her mother sitting side by side like they did in one of there family pictures.

There were a few key differences though; one, they were both in Guardian form, something Will had to admit looked kind of cute because of the matching uniforms. The second major difference was the fact that, instead sitting on the couch like the two did in the photo, they were sitting on top of a transformed but out cold Cedric. They were also surrounded by out cold Lurdens, guards, Tracker, Frost and Phobos.

Will almost burst out laughing at the idea of actually doing that, but contained it as she unwrapped the last gift. As Will tore away the last of the paper, she nearly fainted 'It can't be!' Will screamed in her mind.

---

'3...2...1...and..." Susan counted down in her mind and then heard Will yell out "MOM!" Susan smiled to herself and added, 'Blast off!'

Will came running out holding a very familiar package with a totally shocked expression on her face. "They...how...when" Will was sputtering out while Susan gently took the box of (as you probably guessed) china dishes out of Will's arms.

"A little magic goes a long way sweet heart...okay a lot of magic from if what Cornelia and Taranee said was true. Now go use these to set the table," Susan explained as she set the box down on said table.

Will mindlessly complied with the order and went over and opened the box. An hour later the two were enjoying there meal as they broke in the dishes (not literally of course)

"Happy Mother's Day Mom, I hope you liked the gift I...sort of gave you" Will said, glad she had been able to give her mother her present in the end.

"Thank you sweet heart, I love them" Susan replied with a smile, secretly Susan was more grateful for a different gift Will had given her. The one Will gave her every day of every year, herself. To Susan Will was the greatest gift Mother's Day gift of all.

---

And there you go, hope you all enjoyed it. Here is a summery of two future one-shots I plan on writing, please vote on which you want me to work on next because I can't decide.

First One:

Title: The Guardians of Candracar's End (Not a tragic fic)

Summery: W.I.T.C.H. is lured into a trap by a strange cult on Earth. They know of the Guardians powers and even worse, can negate them! They are captured and put on trial, what will happen to them if they are found guilty?

Second One:

Title: Will and the Genie of the Necklace (AU One-Shot)

Summery: Will is a lonely and badly treated orphan girl. She one day finds a strange necklace on the way back to the Orphanage one day and it changes her life. Unfortunately not all these changes are not good ones, but send the girl on the adventure of her life!


End file.
